AGFC approves waterfowl season dates

AGFC Waterfowl Program Coordinator Luke Naylor presented the Commission with the late migratory season proposals.

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Stuttgart Daily Leader - Stuttgart, AR

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Posted Aug. 16, 2013 at 3:32 PM

Posted Aug. 16, 2013 at 3:32 PM

LITTLE ROCK

For the 17th consecutive year, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission approved a 60-day hunting season for waterfowl. The vote came today during the Commission’s monthly meeting.

AGFC Waterfowl Program Coordinator Luke Naylor presented the Commission with the late migratory season proposals. “Habitat conditions were improved or similar to last year in many areas due to average or above-average annual precipitation, with the exceptions of southeastern Canada, the northeast U.S., and portions of Montana and the Dakotas,” Naylor said.

With more than 529,500 mallards harvested, Arkansas had the third highest waterfowl harvest and highest mallard harvest in the nation last season. The second highest mallard harvest in the nation was 243,467 in California. No other state’s hunters, in the Mississippi flyway, harvested over 200,000 mallards.

2013-14 duck season dates:

Nov. 23-Dec. 1

Dec. 5-Dec. 23

Dec. 26-Jan. 26

Youth Hunt: Feb. 1-2

The 2013-14 duck bag limits are six ducks consisting of no more than: four mallards (two hens), three wood ducks, two pintails, two redheads, one black duck, two canvasbacks, one mottled duck or three scaup.

Federal regulations now allow for a possession limit of three times the daily bag limit. The proposed white-fronted, snow, blue, Ross’s and late Canada goose season is Nov. 14-Jan. 26.

Early migratory bird season dates:

Mourning Dove and Eurasian Collared Dove

Sept. 1-Oct. 20 and Dec. 21-Jan. 9

Teal Season

Sept. 7-22

Rail Season

Sept. 7-Nov. 15

Woodcock Season

Nov. 2-Dec. 16

Common Snipe Season

Nov. 1-Feb. 15

Gallinule Season

Sept. 1-Nov. 9

Early Canada Goose Season

Sept. 1-15

Northwest Canada Goose Zone Season

Sept. 21-30

The teal daily bag limit has been raised to six and the possession limit to 18.